The Late Shift

Not great from a movie-making standpoint (Betty Thomas ain't much of a director), but it's a fun watch. Kathy Bates is great, and John Michael Higgins does a marvelous impersonation of Letterman. Rich Little's Carson voice is incredible--it's a pity he doesn't look much like him. Roebuck's Leno is the weak link of the leads--I found myself not caring if he kept his show or not, and I remember the events from when they happened. Lots of slamming of doors and phones. Great work from Bob Balaban.

Exceptionally well-made and well-produced dramatisation of the Leno-Letterman war, with Higgins and Roebuck both startlingly convincing as Letterman and Leno respectively. Predates THE SOCIAL NETWORK in its ability to generate excitement and tension from basically one talking head after another; film also finds its anchor in a wonderful performance from Bates as firebrand Helen Kushnick. It is possible that you will enjoy this the more you know of the real-life events it depicts.

While technically speaking it is merely put together with average competence there are some elements that really stand out. First is Kathy Bates, she is fantastic. If you've ever wanted to see a self-destructive super-bitch then this is it. Hands down. However Treat Williams is also superb as the supremely calm and confident superagent hired to help Letterman. This is especially interesting to watch now, after the whole Conan/Leno debacle. Man Leno is a jerk.

Decently entertaining dramatization that has become increasingly interesting in light of recent events. Higgins does a good job of capturing Letterman, but the guy playing Leno isn't nearly as good. Not that it matters too much, as Kathy Bates' Helen Kushnick is the real star here, and what an insufferable bitch she is. Leno is shown here to be innocently naive for the most part so it's tough to imagine Jay doing this sort of thing again without Helen. Maybe he wasn't so innocent after all.

Props to Kathy Bates for effectively playing the biggest bitch of all time.

Higgins/Roebuck in their get-ups look like two different yet equally unpleasant toes (with, indeed, very bad hair). Roebuck especially is pretty excruciating to listen to, but a vulgar frothing Kathy Bates almost makes the motherfuck up for it. Everyone else fun. Balaban as Littlefield is duh but brilliant casting. Treat Williams as Ovitz, not so obvious but also great. Never noticed how much Rich Little looked like Ernest Borgnine till he was made-up like Johnny Carson. Life's funny like that.

Kathy Bates steals the show in this movie about the behind-the-scenes dealings between CBS and NBC to fill the Tonight Show spot after Johnny Carson's retirement. The acting in this movie is outstanding! Even though the two actors playing Leno and Letterman weren't the clearest carbon copies, they did a wonderful job. The people who were taxed with playing the smaller roles in this movie really showed what they could do. A great beginning for original content on HBO.

Higgins is great as Letterman, capturing that air between depressed comedian and cynic who repeatedly has his greatest dream ripped out of his hands. Roebuck's Leno is a lot less interesting-- the guy doesn't seem to do much until the film's second half. The only downside is Bates' performance which is just painfully wooden as a character written as a too-easy-to-pigeonhole villain. Still, I always love watching movies about people doing their jobs, and this fits the bill.

I enjoyed this film. I found that the behind the scene elements of the story to be entertaining. The story kept me interested the entire way.

I wanted to revisit this after I got all heated up over the recent Conan/NBC debacle, hoping to glean some extra insight into the previous Tonight Show feud. Unfortunately, Kathy Bates' Helen Kushnick is the only bright spot in this otherwise undramatic story. Leno is granted the Tonight Show about a third of the way into this, and Helen's arc is wrapped up soon after, dissipating all tension. Also, I can forgive the red hair on Letterman, but Leno's lispy voice was awful. Carson was spot-on.